James Maxwell Flinchum, Jr., known as Jim Flinchum (November 5, 1916 – August 2, 2011), was from 1961 until his retirement in 1985 the editor-in-chief of the Wyoming State Tribune, one of two forerunners of the existing Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Wyoming Tribune Eagle

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle is a daily newspaper published in Cheyenne and distributed primarily in Laramie County, Wyoming. It is the state's second largest newspaper in terms of circulation, behind the Casper Star Tribune. The Tribune Eagle is also one of several newspapers serving the Front Range...

in Cheyenne

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...

, Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

.

Early years

Flinchum was born in Caddo

Caddo, Oklahoma

Caddo is a town in Bryan County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 944 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from part a native term for "real chief."- History :The early inhabitants were Caddos and Choctaws....

 in Bryan County

Bryan County, Oklahoma

Bryan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 36,534 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Durant. The county shares the same boundaries as the Durant Micropolitan Area. It is also home to the headquarters of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma located in Durant...

 in southern Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

. In 1939, Flinchum obtained a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

 at Norman

Norman, Oklahoma

Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...

. For two years he was the editor of The Norman Transcript

The Norman Transcript

The Norman Transcript is a daily newspaper published in Norman, Oklahoma, USA, covering Cleveland and McClain counties, in the southern suburbs of Oklahoma City. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc....

prior to joining the United Press

United Press International

United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...

 wire service. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was through 1945 a United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 platoon leader and officer in the Pacific theater based in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. He won the Bronze Star. After the war, Flinchum returned to United Press, where he was based first in Little Rock

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

, Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

. Thereafter, he was stationed in Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

 and Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Journalist in Cheyenne

Considered a demanding journalist with an encyclopedic knowledge of public affairs, Flinchum pushed his reporters to excel and rejected incomplete stories. He had difficulty when the newsroom was converted from typewriters to computers but persisted with hard-hitting editorials for the Wyoming State Tribune.

A Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, Flinchum stayed active in local politics after his retirement from the Tribune Eagle through the interest group, Citizens Opposing Spendthrift Taxation. Jack Quirk of Cheyenne, the president of the group, said that he and Flinchum talked weekly even as the former editor lost his eyesight.

Jim Angell, executive director of the Wyoming Press Association and a former reporter for the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

, describes Flinchum as "fair" in his editing and writing. Angell refers to Flinchum as an old-school journalist who stressed the facts and accurate reporting: "He was a legend in the community."

Flinchum was active in the YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 and Rotary International

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

.In 1971, he wrote a short article in Field and Stream magazine highlighting the many fishing waters of Wyoming.

Death

Flinchum died in Cheyenne at the age of ninety-four. He was survived by his wife, the former Nancy Reynolds of Cheyenne, whom he married in 1948, and two daughters, Nancy Prosser and husband, Ed, of Cheyenne and Suzy Deger and husband, Tim, of Franktown

Franktown, Colorado

Franktown is a census-designated place in Douglas County, Colorado, in the United States. The population was 395 at the 2010 census. The Franktown Post Office has the ZIP Code 80116. Pike's Peak Grange No...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

; two grandchildren, Jackie Parker and husband, Todd, of Colbert

Colbert, Georgia

Colbert is a city in Madison County, Georgia, United States. The population was 488 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Colbert is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 and Brent Prosser and wife, Dana, of Grand Junction

Grand Junction, Colorado

The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...

, Colorado, and five great-grandchildren.

Graveside services were held on August 6 at Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne.